Lucknow/Bengaluru: Results announced on Wednesday for the biennial elections across 28 Legislative Council constituencies in four states saw the Congress draw a blank in Karnataka, while the BJP secured victory in five seats in Uttar Pradesh and the Samajwadi Party (SP) claimed three.

Counting of votes commenced on Tuesday and remained underway in several constituencies. Polling was held on 23 October across 11 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh (six teachers' and five graduates'), eight in Bihar (four teachers' and four graduates'), four in Karnataka (two teachers' and two graduates'), and five in Maharashtra (three graduates' and two teachers').

Participation in these elections is restricted exclusively to registered graduate and teacher voters, with polling conducted using traditional ballot papers rather than electronic voting machines.

In Maharashtra, the BJP-led ruling Mahayuti alliance maintained a lead in three constituencies, whilst the Opposition NCP (SP) led in two. In Bihar, the newly formed Jan Suraaj Party opened its electoral account, with the BJP, JD(U), RJD and an Independent candidate securing one seat each.

The ruling Congress in Karnataka faced a major moral defeat, losing all four contested segments. The opposition JD(S) wrested one seat from the Congress, whilst its alliance partner, the BJP, retained the remaining three.

The JD(S) captured the Bengaluru Teachers' Constituency from the Congress. Meanwhile, BJP candidates registered victories in the North-East Teachers', South-East Graduates', and West Graduates' constituencies, defeating their Congress rivals. Although the result does not affect the stability of the Congress state government, it highlights the consolidation of the BJP-JD(S) opposition alliance. Official declarations for the Bengaluru Teachers' and North-East Teachers' seats were made on Tuesday, while overnight counting continued for the remaining two segments.

Karnataka BJP chief B Y Vijayendra stated that the NDA's victory represents a public rejection of the ruling Congress and serves as a indicator for the 2028 state assembly elections.

In Uttar Pradesh, SP candidate Mansingh Yadav was declared elected from the Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates' constituency. The BJP's Manvendra Pratap Singh (Guruji) won the Agra Graduates' seat. The party also retained the Bareilly-Moradabad Teachers' constituency, where Hari Singh Dhillon defeated SP nominee Danish Akhtar by a margin of 17,676 votes.

The BJP further secured the Lucknow Teachers' seat, with Umesh Dwivedi defeating SP’s Sushil Kumar by 6,992 votes. In Meerut, the BJP triumphed in both the Teachers' and Graduates' constituencies. In the Gorakhpur-Faizabad division Teachers' seat, BJP's Dhruv Kumar Tripathi led by 466 votes over Independent candidate Rajiv Yadav following the final round of counting.

The Samajwadi Party secured the Varanasi Teachers' seat through Lal Bihari Yadav. In the Agra-Aligarh Teachers' constituency, SP's Akash Agrawal defeated BJP candidate Hari Kishore Tiwari.

Prior to the formal announcement, SP president Akhilesh Yadav claimed victory and shared a video on X showing Agrawal in a torn kurta, with supporters alleging he was physically assaulted.

“Let the BJP explain how the treatment meted out by its people to SP MLC candidate, Dr Akash Agrawal, who is winning from Agra, can be justified,” he said. The former Chief Minister called upon the Election Commission, the Supreme Court, and the President to take immediate cognisance of the incident. SP nominees were also leading in the Varanasi and Lucknow Graduates' constituencies. The Council polls are viewed as a key political barometer between the BJP and SP ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

In Maharashtra, BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale held a lead of 4,265 votes in the Nagpur Graduates’ constituency, while Shiv Sena's Kiran Sarnaik led by 4,555 votes in the Amravati Teachers' seat after 21 rounds of counting. Sarnaik secured 10,672 votes, with Congress candidate Aditi Pohre trailing in second place with 6,117 votes.

In the Pune Teachers' constituency, BJP nominee Kaustubh Gawade maintained a lead following the 28th round of counting. In the Pune Graduates' seat, NCP (SP) candidate Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav appeared set for victory, whilst in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) Graduates' constituency, NCP (SP) candidate Pratapsinh Patil led over sitting NCP MLC Satish Chavan.

In Bihar, Jan Suraaj Party's Suresh Prasad Rai unseated sitting Congress MLC Madan Mohan Jha in the Darbhanga Teachers' constituency by 324 votes. BJP candidate Narendra Prasad Singh defeated Independent nominee Bhushan Kumar Jha on Tuesday to win the Tirhut Teachers' seat. In the Patna Graduates' segment, JD(U)'s Neeraj Kumar defeated the RJD candidate, though formal declaration remains pending. Sitting BJP MLC from the Patna Teachers' seat, Nawal Kishor Yadav, lost to RJD's Sanjiv Kumar, while independent candidate Rahul Raj defeated sitting MLC Afaq Ahmed in the Saran Teachers' constituency.

PTI